MORRISTOWN, New Jersey, January 8, 2004 - At CES 2004 Mission, the British loudspeaker manufacturer renowned worldwide for its leading edge design and craftsmanship of quality audio products, is debuting its new elegante loudspeakers. The elegante range consists of three unique loudspeaker systems, each carefully sculptured and acoustically engineered by Mission's highly acclaimed R&D team to combine the ultimate in striking good looks and sonic performance. Designed to complement the décor of any room in the house, each system has been crafted to perform as well in multi -channel operation as in two -channel stereo.

Stylish Cabinet Design Flawlessly Combines Form and Function
Mission's constant pursuit of excellence has resulted in close attention not only to the acoustic performance of elegante loudspeakers, but also the styling. Strongly influenced by the elegant styling and understated grace of Mission's flagship Pilastro, elegante speakers feature a gently curved profile, with luxurious Grania cabinets that optimize sound dispersion. All speakers feature a highly polished, hand -lacquered anthracite finish with black cloth grilles.

All three elegante systems will be available in 6.1 -channel home theater configurations, with a simple option to upgrade to 7.1 -channel. Comprising of elegantly profiled loudspeakers and powerful subwoofer, each system effortlessly delivers all the power, thrills and excitement of the latest DVD, DVD -Audio and SACD releases. The elegante systems will be available the first quarter of 2004. Pricing ranges from $5,990 to $9,990.

e80: Understated Excellence
The elegante e80 system is the smallest system available in the elegante range, consisting of five bookshelf e80 loudspeakers, an e8c center -channel and a compact e8as1 350W subwoofer. A rigid wall bracket is supplied with each of the e80 satellites for wall mounting; however, it can also be used to lock the speakers onto a specially designed elegante floor stand. The e8c can either be wall -mounted using the supplied bracket or simply positioned (for instance, underneath a plasma screen) on an equipment rack. Finally, the e8as1 subwoofer is cuboid in design, utilizing a 10" long -throw driver and twin ABRs for powerful bass performance, housed in a Grania cabinet that matches the rest of the system.

e82: Perfect For Home Theater or Music Listening
Ideal for medium or large -sized rooms, the new elegante e82 system consists of two slim -line e82 tower loudspeakers, three bookshelf e80 loudspeakers and an e8c center -channel, plus the e8as1 compact subwoofer. Each e80 is supplied with a wall bracket that also fits onto an elegante floor stand. The e8c can either be wall -mounted using the supplied bracket or simply positioned on the equipment rack. For enhanced bass performance the e82 system can be upgraded by replacing the 350W e8as1 with a 500W e8as2 sub -woofer.

e83 system: Magnificence and Power
The largest of the Mission elegante systems is the e83 system, featuring two tall and elegant e83 tower loudspeakers, with two 6.5" bass/mid drivers and three 6.5" ABRs. These magnificent stereo speakers are complemented by three e81 bookshelf loudspeakers and a stylish e8c center channel. Finally, a 500W e8as2 subwoofer features four Pilastro -type 8" bass drivers providing incredible LFE performance.

The Paramid cone is driven by a new motor structure where Mission's engineers have incorporated copper and aluminium rings to dramatically reduce eddy current distortion - a traditional problem in moving -coil loudspeaker design. Paramid -S drivers are locked into the Grania cabinets so that the chassis and magnet structure are braced between the cabinet walls and front baffle, improving transient attack and detailing. Interior sound absorption is via Mission's Acufil graded fibre damping material, with anechoic grade foam placed at critical points. Connection to the high -power audiophile grade crossover is via Mission designed OFC cable in Expanded PE insulation, each cable is designed specifically for its particular frequency range of transmission.

The elegante Viotex -S treble drivers feature a lightweight fabric dome with excellent internal damping and linear frequency range to 36kHz, allowing the speakers to achieve high performance results from SACD and DVD -Audio sources. The drivers use high -powered neodymium magnets with aluminium heatsinking to allow wide dynamic range with minimal compression. Each Viotex -S driver is fitted with a special front plate that optimizes dispersion on the horizontal direction for a wide listening angle.

For more information on elegante, call 1 -866 -MISN -USA or visit Mission at www.mission -usa.com.

About Mission
Founded in 1977, Mission has established an enviable reputation for designing and manufacturing quality loudspeakers. In 1978 Mission launched the revolutionary 770 loudspeaker, the first audiophile loudspeaker to use a polypropylene drive unit and, since then, has constantly introduced new technology and the radical manufacturing techniques that have played a key part in Mission's success. Constantly breaking through technological barriers has involved making huge investments in human and engineering resources. Mission's headquarters in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England feature the latest in production and computing technology to help maintain its position at the forefront of the home entertainment industry.